Halloween Spirit
by honu59
Summary: It's Halloween and it appears that Danny has a ghostly visitor. Written for a Halloween challenge.


**Halloween Spirit**

**October 31, 1974**

The sound subtly crept into his unconscious mind. At first it was just part of the background noise, but it gradually increased, its insistent crescendo demanding the attention of the sleeping detective. Soon the rumbling had its way and Dan Williams stirred. _Thunder? _ he wondered, rubbing his tired eyes. He glanced at the alarm clock on his bedside table; it read quarter to three in the morning. Figuring that there was a storm on the way, Danny got out of bed to close his window. But when he looked out at the night sky, it was crystal clear with a glowing moon and twinkling stars. _That's strange, _he thought. He left the window open and made his way back to the bed.

Just as he lowered himself onto the mattress, he sensed something; he had a vague feeling that he wasn't alone. Danny's cop reflexes kicked in and he grabbed his revolver from the night stand as he rose to his feet. "Who's there?" he demanded, switching on the lamp with his left hand. But there was no one. He checked his closet and his bathroom; still no one. A bit embarrassed that he was obviously imagining things, Danny relaxed again, set his weapon back down on the table and shook his head to clear his mind. He got back into his bed and absent mindedly scratched at the stubble on his cheek while he tried to mentally explain away what had happened. _Must be that late night leftover pizza…or the hours I've been keeping. _

He dismissed the incident, turned off the lamp then settled back under the covers. But before he drifted off to sleep again, Danny could have sworn that he heard someone calling his name.

o-o-o

The white leather chair in his boss's private office was too comfortable for the sleep deprived detective, so he kept shifting his position to keep himself awake, hoping that his astute boss wouldn't notice. But from the side glances that he was receiving from the lead detective, he knew it wasn't working.

"As you know, today is Halloween," Steve McGarrett continued his morning briefing, "and HPD already has their hands full with all manner of petty crime and juvenile pranks."

"So what else is new?" commented Chin wryly. A father of eight, he was well acquainted with the innocent and not so innocent local celebrations of the final few days of October. He just hoped that his older kids weren't involved in any mischief that would require the intervention of HPD.

"Yeah," Ben Kokua agreed. "Business always picks up this time of year."

"What _is_ _new_ this year, gentlemen, is that we'll be taking over some of the larger cases from Chief Dann to free up enough manpower so HPD can handle the increased load of small stuff," McGarrett explained just as Danny was stifling a yawn. "Are we keeping you up, Danno?"

Feeling all the eyes in the room upon him, Danny stammered, "Uh, no, Steve, sorry. I didn't sleep too well last night." He straightened his posture and tried to look attentive.

"Young lady?" the lead detective asked matter-of-factly, which brought a light chuckle from Chin and a definite smirk from Ben.

Danny's cheeks burned as he responded quickly, "No, nothing like that," and glared at his amused colleagues, hoping his boss would change the subject.

Steve pressed the intercom button on his desk phone.

_"Yes, boss?"_ his secretary replied through the speaker.

"Jenny, Danno needs another cup of coffee," Steve answered.

_"Will do,"_ Jenny responded without hesitation. _"And boss, you have that meeting with the governor in ten minutes."_

"Thanks, love." Steve switched off the intercom then grabbed his holster and suit jacket. "Chin, Ben, go over the evidence file on the Fleming brothers again; we may have missed something. Danno, call Doc and see what's holding up those autopsy results. I'll be back in an hour." And the head of Five-O was out the door.

The other three detectives filed into the outer office in McGarrett's wake. Danny grabbed the cup of coffee that Jenny had prepared for him and returned to his cubicle. He settled into his desk chair then flipped through his rolodex until he found the number for the county morgue. He picked up the receiver and dialed the phone. His call was answered on the second ring.

"_Bergman."_

"Hi Doc, it's Dan. How soon will you have the results for the Jenkins autopsy?"

"_You'll get them when I'm finished. Have a little patience. You're picking up Steve's bad habits, Danny."_

"At least give me an estimate, Doc," Danny pushed, wanting at least some information to give his boss.

"_Maybe mid-afternoon, maybe not. I'll call you."_

"Thanks," Danny said, not really meaning it, which was evident in his tone. He hung up the phone too forcefully before he realized that his lack of sleep was starting to affect his manners. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, he saw Ben standing in his doorway. It was clear that the Samoan detective had overheard Williams' half of the conversation and the smack of the telephone's handset against its cradle.

"You okay, Danny?" Ben asked with genuine concern in his voice.

"Yeah," was his brief answer before Danny decided that he really wanted to talk to somebody about his eerie experience. "But something really strange happened last night, Ben…I don't know, maybe it was just a dream." Danny nervously ran a hand through his curly hair.

"What happened?" Ben continued, keeping his voice low so the whole office wouldn't hear.

Danny related his experience of hearing what sounded like thunder with no sign of a storm and then feeling a presence in his bedroom when no one was there. He even admitted that he thought he had heard someone calling his name. Danny half expected Ben to laugh at him and was surprised when he didn't.

"There are many Polynesian legends of ghosts who are actively involved with the living," Kokua explained in all seriousness. "Maybe you have a visiting spirit."

"You sound just like Kono!" Danny exclaimed, amused by the supernatural suggestion. "Just because it's Halloween, it doesn't mean that I'm seeing ghosts. I'm not six!"

"A lot of people on this island believe in the spirits, Danny. I'm just saying…" Ben commented calmly.

"I'll take that into consideration then," Danny replied more diplomatically.

The conversation came to a halt when Jenny poked her head into Williams' cubicle. "Danny, HPD is on the line. Can you take the call?"

"Sure, I'll take it in here," Danny replied.

The efficient secretary returned to her desk to transfer the call and Ben disappeared into his own cubicle.

_This must be the call that Steve was expecting from Chief Dann, _ Danny thought, so he pulled out a legal pad to jot down the list of new cases for Five-O just as his telephone rang. He picked up the receiver and identified himself.

"Williams." But it wasn't Chief Dann on the other end.

"_Hi Danny, it's Duke. I'm down here in lock-up and…um…do you have time to come over?_

"I think so. What is it, Duke?"

"_We've got a group of teenagers here who were hauled in early this morning for vandalism. They broke windows and destroyed some equipment last night at Ming's Laundry on Bishop Street. It was probably one of those 'Devil's Night' pranks that got out of hand, but Mr. Ming is pressing charges."_

"What does that have to do with me?" Danny asked, knowing that the HPD sergeant wouldn't call him for something trivial.

"_Danny, one of the boys is David Olena, and I figured…"_

"David?" Danny interrupted, clearly shocked then added, "You figured right; I'll be right over!"

He ended the call, grabbed his jacket and told Jenny that he'd be at HPD headquarters. He just hoped that Steve would understand.

o-o-o

When Danny entered the HPD building, Duke Lukela was waiting for him, ready to usher him to the interrogation area.

"Mr. Ming has calmed down now, Danny," the older officer explained as they walked through the building. "He's agreed to drop the charges, if David will apologize and pay for the damage. Same deal for the other boys."

"Good, Duke," Danny responded, relieved that the business owner was being more than reasonable. "That'll give me a place to start the conversation."

Duke brought Danny to a private room occupied by a woman in her late thirties, dressed in a simple green shift, her long black hair pulled back off her shoulders – David's mother. She was sitting with her head bowed, twisting the tissue she held in her hands.

Danny approached the woman and offered his hand. "Julia," he said gently. She looked up then took his hand and stood. Noticing the woman's red rimmed eyes, Danny pulled her into a comforting hug. "Don't worry, Julia, I'll handle this," he whispered.

"Thank you," Mrs. Olena said bravely. "Danny, I don't know how this happened."

"I'll find out," Danny promised. He nodded toward Duke, indicating that it was time to escort the woman out and retrieve David from his cell.

It wasn't long before Duke returned with the teenager, who was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. The silver haired officer led the youngster to a chair and seated him so that he faced Danny.

"Thanks, Duke. Give us some privacy, okay?" Danny said.

"Sure, Danny," Lukela replied. Then he addressed the boy, "David, I want to you listen to Danny. He cares about you." Duke gave David's shoulder a fatherly squeeze before he exited the interrogation room.

The teenaged boy regarded the Five-O detective with a smug expression, but beyond that, Danny saw fear and shame in his eyes. _It's not too late, _he thought.

o-o-o

A good half hour later, Danny emerged from the room with a different young man – the smugness had disappeared, now replaced by genuine contrition.

"This may be the hardest thing you've ever had to do, but you'll feel much better afterward," Danny told the boy as they rejoined Duke.

"How'd it go?" asked the HPD sergeant.

"Just fine, Duke," Danny replied with a grin. "David is ready to apologize to Mr. Ming and work out a plan to pay for the damage."

The Hawaiian officer smiled broadly. "That's great, David. He's waiting in my office."

Williams stayed with David while he made his apology to Mr. Ming and arrangements were made for the boy to spend his after school hours repairing the damage to the shop and working to pay for the repairs he couldn't do himself. Before Danny left, he thanked Mr. Ming and gave the elderly man his business card, saying, "If I can do anything else, please give me a call."

o-o-o

A couple of weeks had passed. Five-O had arrested the Fleming brothers for grand larceny and for the murder of Carl Jenkins, and they had completed the paperwork on the two cases they had taken on from HPD during the Halloween rush.

Danny had all but forgotten the strange occurrence, dream or whatever it was, he had experienced in the wee hours on Halloween morning. The only lasting effect was that he had since then cut down on his late night consumption of pepperoni pizza.

Seated at his office desk, Danny was about to call John Manicote to request a search warrant pertaining to a new investigation when his telephone rang.

"Williams," he answered on the first ring.

"_Mr. Williams, this is Jun Ming from Ming's Laundry. Do you remember me?"_

"Of course, Mr. Ming. What can I do for you?"

"_I'm just calling to thank you for making arrangements for young David to work here. He is a hard worker, and has more than repaid his debt. And he still comes in every day after school. He's good company, too, for an old man like me. I've given him a part time, paying job!"_

"That's wonderful news, Mr. Ming. I appreciate your giving the boy a second chance. It sounds like he took it to heart."

"_Yes, indeed, Mr. Williams. You have a good day, and may the spirits smile on you."_

"You, too, Mr. Ming."

Danny hung up the phone, sat back in his chair and smiled at the good that had come out of a bad situation. Days like this made it all worthwhile.

o-o-o

That night, a rumbling sound crept into Danny's dream, slowly, insistently growing louder. Before long, the thunderous din pulled the detective out of his slumber and he sat up in his bed. A quick glance at the clock confirmed the time: quarter to three. _What? _he thought._ Not again!_

As he sat in the darkness, the sound gradually became clear enough to identify; it wasn't thunder, and to Danny, it was a very familiar sound - the thundering sound of bowling balls rolling down wooden alleys and striking sets of wooden pins. Suddenly, Danny felt a presence in his room. The noise subsided and the room became quiet. Then he distinctly heard a voice call out: "Daniel."

_That's funny, _Danny thought, _the only person who calls me 'Daniel' is…was…_

"Chinough?" Danny called out tentatively. "Chinough, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," admitted the familiar voice. "Thanks, Daniel – I owe you one."

And with that, the presence was gone.

For several minutes, Danny sat there in his bed in the dark room. Had he imagined it? He didn't believe in spirits. Still, Ben had said that there were legends of ghosts visiting the living. Dan had grown up on the island and remembered similar stories from his childhood. But those were just stories, weren't they?

o-o-o

The next morning, Dan Williams went to the Palace as usual, put in a full day of work typical for a Five-O detective, including overtime and Chinese take-out for dinner. He said nothing about his visitor from the spirit world. No one would believe him anyway. He wasn't sure if he believed it himself.

By the time he got back to his apartment, it was nearly eight thirty. He loosened his tie, took off his suit jacket and draped it over a chair, put his gun and badge case on the table then sat down to leaf through his mail. Among the usual bills and ads was an envelope from what had been Chinough Olena's favorite restaurant. Danny opened the envelope and unfolded a promotional gift certificate for a free steak dinner complete with onion rings! In his mind, Danny heard the spirit voice again: _Thanks, Daniel – I owe you one._

And he believed.

**Pau**

_**A.N. **__– The character Chinough Olena appeared in the season 3 episode "The Bomber and Mrs. Moroney" and the season 5 episode "Pig in a Blanket". _


End file.
